OpenFields

1122: Food justice

This paper is taken from the summary of the Food Ethics Council publication ‘Food Justice - the report of the Food and Fairness Inquiry’.

Year of Publication2010

Policy debate around sustainable food and farming does not attach due weight to issues of social justice. Addressing food-related social injustice mainly requires wider social and economic policy solutions. We need to find ways to engage people with food policy. To enable people to change their behaviour, we need to address the inequalities that underpin their behaviour. ‘Cheap food’ is no longer a legitimate social policy objective. There are limits to what can be achieved through market mechanisms, so we need government leadership. The international trade regime presents obstacles to social justice in food and farming.